Chapter 271 Business Intelligence
If it were the previous Charles, he would know nothing about the outside world except military intelligence.
Even if you know something, it will be outdated, useless, and may even be a lie carefully woven by your opponent.
But now, the Shire has the "Lady in White".
The "Lady in White" might not be very suitable for spying on commercial intelligence, and Charles was worried that the "Lady in White" would resist this.
After all, they demand to be treated as soldiers, and soldiers cannot point their guns at civilians.
But Lucia gave a very reasonable explanation: "Your factory is producing equipment needed on the front line, Colonel, and these equipment are defeating the enemy. If anyone is not good for your factory, it is to prevent us from winning!"
"That makes sense!" Charles nodded and frankly handed over the task of tracking Grevi to the "Lady in White".
Charles then knew that Grévy had gone to Saint-Étienne to meet Layom.
Although I didn't hear the details, everyone could guess what Grevi's purpose was.
In addition, Charles also knew that Grevy had recently been in close contact with Bonnet, the owner of the Little Journal.
This made Charles suddenly realize that there would be many people in the alliance who had conflicts of interest with him, even though the alliance was formed for the sake of benefit.
For example, Steed's eldest son Layome, who could have inherited Saint-Etienne, had been striving for it and even had run Saint-Etienne as his own arsenal a long time ago.
But now, the existence of Charles might make him lose his inheritance.
To be precise, it is not that he loses the right of inheritance, but that if he inherits Saint-Etienne he will become Charles' "puppet", at least that is what he thinks.
The Small Daily is in conflict with the Meritorious Daily.
Although Steed was willing to sacrifice the Little Journal in favor of Shire.
But it was not the case for Bonnet. The Little Journal belonged to him. He did not want to be sacrificed as a pawn or a companion to the Meritorious Newspaper. He was even less willing to watch the Meritorious Newspaper snatch away all his readers without him having a chance to fight back.
Therefore, the best choice for "Little Daily" is to switch to Schneider. As for which party, it doesn't seem to make much difference to him.
Steed listened to Charles' story with a dark face, then looked at him apologetically: "Please believe me, this is not what I want, I don't know this."
"He came to see me, too," Dominic said. "I mean Grevy."
"Looked for you?" Steed looked at Dominic in shock.
"Yes." Dominic answered, looking a little embarrassed: "At the time I thought he just wanted to sow discord, but I didn't expect it to be..."
Steed snorted and glared at Dominic fiercely.
"What are you going to do?" asked Charles.
"Don't worry, Colonel." Steed's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness: "I will take care of these things."
Steed had already decided that Bonnet would die in a traffic accident.
At this time, Bonnet had not yet publicly announced that he was going to switch to Schneider. If he died unexpectedly, everyone would suspect that it was Schneider's fault, and Schneider would end up losing more than he gained.
As for Layom, he will lose his right to inherit forever. He will be under house arrest for at least the time being, as he knows too many secrets. And the management of Saint-Etienne may be safer if it is handed over to a third party who has no inheritance relationship.
Steed just didn't have any creativity, but that didn't mean he didn't have any means. Otherwise, he wouldn't have survived until now in this society where party struggles are like battlefields.
After thinking for a while, Steed bowed slightly to Charles and said, "I hope these unpleasant things will not affect our cooperation."
"Of course," Ciel replied calmly, "But maybe I can give you some advice."
Steed was a little confused. Could it be that Charles wanted to vent his anger in his own way?
Then a trace of fear flashed in Steed's eyes. Would Charles ask him to kill his own relatives for the sake of justice?
If so, how to choose?
Steed gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice Layom. After all, compared with a family and Saint-Etienne, Layom was insignificant!
However, Steed soon realized that he was wrong.
"Don't worry about it, Bonnet," Charles said. "All you have to do is convince Layom."
"Persuade?" Steed looked surprised. The punishment seemed too light.
"Layom could become a pawn in our hands," Charles explained. "Next time, you won't have to fire the technicians to transfer the blueprints to the Pitot Arsenal."
Steed suddenly realized.
Where Schneider can make use of Layom is probably to use him to strengthen the Puteaux Arsenal in order to suppress Saint-Etienne, or more precisely, to strike at Charles.
For example, if Charles had any invention, the Pitot Arsenal could get the blueprints in advance and produce similar equipment.
If this is the case, there is a possibility that Rayom could be used in turn.
Steed was confident: "I can convince him, Colonel. If he refuses, there will be nothing left!"
But Steed still didn't want to let Bonnet go: "But the Little Journal has a great influence on us..."
"His influence was minimal," Charles interrupted Steed.
Steed was in a dilemma. It seemed that he had little impact on Shire. Even Schneider's "Morning Post" had to publish Shire's success and victory. This was the case even if the "Little Daily" "defected". Even if he wanted to set the tone, he could not describe the victory as a failure.
But the blow to Republican cohesion and morale...
Charles seemed to see through Steed's thoughts, and he added: "Even if you want to deal with him, it will take some time."
Hearing this, Steed understood.
This is not because Charles is "soft-hearted", but because he wants to deal with another person: Grevi.
Steed guessed correctly. In Charles' eyes, the most important opponent was always Grevi.
Grevy's existence is like an "anti-Charter alliance", he will link together all of the Charr's enemies, some of which the Charr is not even aware of.
Grevy is a smart man.
If Steed dealt with the two "rebels" cleanly and neatly, Grevi would immediately realize the danger: Charles possessed intelligence capabilities, so he would have to be extra careful in the future, and there might even be some things he could not do.
But if Ciel seemed to know nothing, Bonnet still joined Schneider and Layom had been providing information to Schneider.
Then Grevi would continue to collude with the Germans as before.
Before this, Charles might not be able to do anything to him, but now the "Lady in White" is watching Grevey, and more importantly, Grevey doesn't know the existence of the "Lady in White".
So, what awaits Grevi and the right wing in the future is the crime of "collaborating with the enemy"!
What would be the result?
Suicide or shooting?
You choose one!
(End of this chapter)
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